• Tasks them on trust and grassroots power ahead of 2027
•Donates eight buses to them
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu on Monday told women leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that politics is a game of number and not gender based.
She has, therefore charged them to connect with the grassroots so as to earn the people’s trust.
According to her: “Politics is not about gender; it’s about number. If you don’t connect with the grassroots, you can’t win their trust.”
Speaking while playing host to APC women leaders from across the country at the State House, Abuja, Mrs Tinubu charged the women leaders to focus on numbers, trust and grassroots mobilisation as the party positions itself for future elections, saying political success depends on sustained engagement with the people.
The First Lady said politics is basically about building support at the grassroot, earning trust and staying connected to their constituents adding that women in politics must not lose touch with the people who put them in office.
She noted that consistent outreach and the town hall meetings she held for eight straight years as a Senator of the Federal Republic helped with grassroot engagements.
“I connect with the grassroots. I am still the only woman on record who has ever done town hall meeting every quarter. I did that consecutively for good eight years.”
Mrs Tinubu submitted that political office holders must go beyond winning elections and must continue to relate with their constituents even after victory.
She warned that many politicians lose relevance once they assume office because they abandon the people who supported them.
“You have to connect with them. If I find it difficult to reach out to you as an office holder, how do you want your constituents to reach out to you?”
She also emphasised the role of trust in political organisation, saying supporters must feel valued and included.
According to her, leaders should build relationships that last beyond campaigns, adding that people respond positively when they know they are remembered and respected.
“You have to build trust and connection. Once it’s not there, you can’t win.”
Mrs Tinubu told the women that political mobilisation must be deliberate and structured, especially at the grassroots.
She said the APC women’s wing should continue to strengthen their base through local engagement, voter education and sensitization.
“Politics is very, very sensitive. People come to our home even when we do invite them, but when they come, we treat them well, they are not trash.”
She counselled women to balance public life and family saying “you can do both. I’ve played politics for 12 good years and I still have a husband. Take care of your children, train them well.
“All this restlessness we are seeing around stems from the home. We have to make sure that our home is solid.”
Earlier, the APC National Women Leader, Mary Alile Idele, praised the First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative and said APC women’s wing remains one of the strongest mobilisation networks in the country.
She said women leaders across the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, local governments and wards have remained central to the APC’s electoral success.
Mrs Idele said the emergence of newly elected state and zonal women leaders shows growing confidence in women’s leadership and strengthens the party’s grassroots structure ahead of future contests.
Highpointn of the ceremony was the handing over of eight buses to the APC Women leaders from different zones of the country by Mrs Tinubu.
